pinkney



(no Model.)

G. W. PINKNEY. APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURE OF GAS.

Patented 11g. 20,1895. F .2

wmwmcm I L'L-L t To all whom it may concern.-

UNITED STATES PATENT, OFFICE.

CHARLES VILLIAM PINKNEY, OF SMETHWICK, ASSIGNOR'OF ONE-HALF TO TANGYES,LIMITED, OF SOHO, ENGLAND.

APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF'GAS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 544,824, dated August20, 1895.

Application filed December 21, 1894. Serial No. 582,583- (No model.)

Be it known that 1, CHARLES WILLIAM PINKNEY, engineer, a subject of theQueen of Great Britain and Ireland, residing at 77 Raglan Road,Smethwick, in the county of Stafford, England, have invented certainImprovements in and Apparatus for the Mannfacture of Gas Suitable foruse in Gas-Enginesor for Heating Purposes, of which the following is aspecification.

The object of my invention is to provide apparatus whereby gas suitablefor use in gas-engines or for heating purposes can be producedeconomically and with facility and of even quality.

My said invention relates to the class of apparatus wherein superheatedsteam and air are forced through heated carbonaceous matter, so that thesteam is decomposed and takes up carbon from the said fuel.

Hitherto considerable difficulty has been experienced in obtaining aneven quality of gas owing to considerable variation in the proportionsof the component gases constituting the gas produced, and it is theprincipal object of my invention to obviate this difficulty. I havefound that in order to obtain a good result it is necessary to provide apractically constant depth of fuel in the furnace, and also to insurethe proper heat-j ing of the fuel before the gases come in contacttherewith inside the generator and to uniformly heat the steam and'airas they pass to the generator containing the said fuel.

In an apparatus arranged according to my invention I provide thegenerator for containing the fuel with a hopper or supply opening forthe supply of the fuel at the side of the upper part of the generatorand with an outlet for the produced gases atthe opposite side of theupper part of the generator with a deflecting block or deflecting blocksbetween the said hopper or supply-opening and the outlet for theproduced gases or equivalent means for separating the inlet for fuelfrom the outlet for the produced gases. 1 can then keep the hopper andpassage into thegenerator and the generator, itself filled with fuelwithout detriment to the production of gas in the generator, and theattendant can readily ascertain and control the depth of the end of thehopperis closed by a valve or cover which can be opened, when required,by means of a lover. The deflecting block or blocks in the generatorwillcause the green fuel to pass down into the generator gradually or inproper proportion to the consumption of fuel, the said green fuel beingraised in temperature on its way down to the lower part of thesaid blockor blocks or the like, it (afterward and when in an incandescent ornearly incandescent state) occupying the portion of the generator acrossthe outlet for produced gases, the depth of fuel between the fire-gratebelow and the outlet above, through which depth of fuel the steam andairpass, being thus kept constant, and the carbon is thereby preventedfrom being carried off in an imperfect condition or as an imperfect gas.

The hopper and the passage therefrom into the generator are of such alength that the green fuel is dried and heated before it comes incontact with the incandescent fuel, and the steam which results fromthis drying of damp green fuel may escape through an opening at the topof the hopper; It is necessary to insure good results to maintain aconstant or practically constant pressure of steam from the boiler, asif the pressure, and consequently the temperature, diminishes it willtake a proportionately longer time for the heated fuel in the generatorto decompose the steam and consequently leave too little time for theresultant gases to properly mix with the carbon inside the generator,and the consequence is imperfectly-made gas. I have also found that whenthe steam comes in contact with the air which is supplied therewith tosupport combustion in the generator, even although the said air besomewhat heated, the steam is reduced in temperature, which is likewisean objection. To obviate these objections I cause the steam to pass onits way from the boiler to the steam-jet in the blower-box through anautomatic regulating or reducing valve-box fitted with a piston having aconical projec- ICO tion, which acts as a valve controlling an opening,through which the steam passes to the blower-box. The piston slides in aportion of the valve-box which acts as a cylinder therefor, the saidpiston having a stem which passes through an adjusting nut or coverscrewed into the said part which constitutes the cylinder, a springbeing placed between the said nut and the piston. "When steam enters thevalve-box between the piston and the opening to the blower-boxcontrolled by the aforesaid conical valve, the said steam moves thepiston, compressing the spring and causing the conical valve to contractthe area of opening for steam to pass to the blowerbox. Thus when thepressure of the steam from the boiler rises, the conical valve willeffect the requisite reduction of pressure, and

if the pressure of the steam from the boiler falls the spring will acton the piston to cause the conical valve to increase the area of theopening for steam to the blower-box, and so the pressure of steampassing to the blowerbox is kept practically constant. The adjusting nutor cover, by compressing the spring, will permit the valve to be set tothe working-pressure desired. The steam before it reaches theblowing-jet passes through a U pipe or coil inside the outlet-pipe forthe gases from the generator, and as the said U pipe or coil is kept ata high temperature by the said gases the steam is thus heated to anextent to compensate for the COOling ffect of the air at the blower-box.The air can also be heated by causing it to pass over any of the heatedsurfaces of the apparatus on its way to the blower-box. After the steamand air meet at the steam-jet in the blower-box they pass through a pipeand along a passage which may be formed in or against the outletpassagefor the gases'from the generator, so that the said steam and air areconsiderably raised in temperature thereby, and they then passpreferably around the said outlet-passage and into a pipe or passagewhich is kept at a high temperature by the incandescent fuel in thegenerator, and which pipe or passage leads the mixture of steam and airso s11- perheated beneath the grate of the generator, where it diffusesand passes into the incans descent fuel and becomes decomposed andpasses with the carbon taken up from the fuel out from the generatorthrough suitable coolers and scrubbers or the like, and thence to theplace of storage or utilization.

The outlet pipe or passage from the generator may be provided with apipe or chimney controlled by a valve which is opened when the said pipeor chimney is to be used as a blow-off or in getting up heat initiallyin the generator.

In order that my said invention may be fully understood, I shall nowproceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purposeshall refer to the several figures on the annexed sheets of drawings,the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all thefigures.

Figure 1 of the drawings represents, in longitudinal vertical section,apparatus constructed according to my invention. Fig. 2 is a transversesection on the line 1 2, and Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line3 4 through the passages for gas from'and steam and air to thegenerator; and Fig. 4 is a sectional elevation, drawn to a larger scale,of an automatic regulating or reducing valve for controlling theadmission of. steam to the generator.

The generator consists of an outer casing A, containing or lined withfire-brick or they like B, and provided at the lower end with a gratingor fire-bars 0, upon which the fuel D is supported. A hopper E isprovided at the upper end of the generator, by which the fuel is fedthereinto, the said hopper being ar ranged near one side of the top ofthe generator, while the outlet F for the generated gas is arranged nearthe opposite side of the top' of the said generator. A depending blockor partition G is provided between the inlet for the fuel and the outletfor the gas, the said depending block forming between it and one side ofthe interior of the generator an elongated passage H, through which thefresh or green fuel passes into the generator, the said fresh or greenfuel thus becoming heated and dried or brought to a suitable conditionto enter the generator without detriment to the production of gas in thesaid generator.

The hopper E is provided with a valve I, operated by a weighted lever J,which valve when opened will depress or touch the fuel beneath, and soindicate the depth of fuel in the generator. In order that the greenfuel may be thoroughly dried and heated to the desired temperaturebefore coming into contact with the incandescent fuel and gas in thegenerator the hopper should not be allowed to be entirely emptied beforebeing recharged.

The vapors due to moisture in the green fuel may be allowedto escapethrough an opening in the hopper or in the lid or cover thereof.

In order to obtain a good quality of gas by the decomposition of steamit is necessary that the steam be admitted to the incandescent fuel inthe generator at a uniform or practically-uniform pressure and at a hightemperature. The pipe K, by which the steam is conducted from asteam-generator, passes in the form of a. coil K through the gas-outletF and terminates in a steam-jet in a blower-box L, between whichblower-box and the coil K the pipe K is provided with an automaticregulating-valve M. (Shown drawn to a larger scale in Fig. 4.) Thisregulatingvalve consists of a piston N having a conical or taperedprojection or valve 0, which controls a passage it, through which thesteam passes to the nozzle and blower-box. The

by the passage T moves the piston so as to more or less compress thespring S, according to the pressure of the steam, and so causes thevalve 0 to close more or less the passage n for the steam to theblower-box L. Thus the pressure of steam entering the blowerbox ismaintained practically constant. The steam passing through the jet inthe blower box induces a current of air, which tends to cool the steam;but as the steampasses through the coil K in the gas-outlet beforereaching the blower-box it is heated to a sufficiently high temperatureto compensate for the cooling effect of the air. The mixture of steamand air passes from the blower-box through a passage U in the gas-outletF into an annular passage V, communicating with a passage W, passingdown through the brickwork B of the generator 0. The mixture of steamand air, in passing through the passages U, V, and W, becomessuperheated and enters a chamber W beneath the fire-bars O, in whichchamber the said mixture of air and steam diffuses and passes thenceinto and up through the incandescent fuel in the generator, whereby thesteam is decomposed into its constituent gases, and the air gives up itsoxygen and nitrogen. The gas thus produced passes, with the carbon takenup from the fuel, through the outlet F, and may be conducted thencethrough any suitable cooling apparatus--such, for example, as that shownat Xand therefrom through a scrubber, or through scrubbers, and thenceto a gas-holder or place of utilization.

Z is a pipe in connection with the gas-outlet passage F and fitted witha valve .2, which may be opened when it is required to use this pipe orpassage as a blow-off or for getting up heat initially in the generator,the valvebeing closed when the apparatus is at work producing' gas.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my saidinvention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare thatWhat I claim is In an apparatus for the manufacture of gas, a producerhaving an inlet for the fuel at one side thereof and an outlet for theproduced gas at the other side and provided with a depending partitionor separator across the interior of the producer between the inlet forthe fuel and the outlet for the produced gas, in combination with asteam pipe from the generator situated or in part situated in the outletfor the produced gas and communicating with a steam jet, an automaticvalve in said pipe operated by variation in the pressure of the steam toregulate the supply thereof to said steam jet, an inlet for air inproximity to said steam jet, and a pipe or passage for the mixed steamand .air, the said pipe or passage passing through the producer or itslining to the inlet for the mixed steam and air, to the producer, allsubstantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES WILLIAM PINKNEY.

. Witnesses:

WILLIAM JOHN PARKINS,

WILLIAM HENRY H OWSE.

